Since 1893 Pawling has operated under a Mayor and Village Board of Trustees government. The mayor is the chief administrative officer of the village, selected to carry out the directives of the Council. The Deputy mayor monitors the Village's fiscal condition and enforces its local ordinances and laws. The mayor is also involved in the discussion of all matters coming before Council and votes on resolutions. The Village Board of Trustees is the legislative body consisting of the mayor and four trustees. The Mayor serves as the presiding officer of the Council. The Council functions to set policy, approve the annual budget, and enact local laws, resolutions & ordinances.

The Pawling Fire District is the fire department that covers the Town Of Pawling. By keeping buildings up to code, controlling illegal occupancies, monitoring the safety of living-areas and issuing licenses and permits, the department works to control the potential for dangerous situations. The fire district operates three fire stations spread out all over the town, as their district covers a large area. The department is capable of handling fires, rescues, extrications and natural disasters. The PFD operates a varied fire apparatus fleet, however does not provide Emergency Medical Services. Both BLS and ALS EMS calls are handled by TransCare who are contracted to provide the town one ambulance to provide 24/7 ambulance service. In the event of numerous calls within a short amount of time, TransCare ambulances are pulled from neighboring town Beekman, or if a backfil unit is available, it will respond from Wappingers Falls.

Police protection to the Town of Pawling is provided by the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office and New York State Police. The DCSO have a substation located in the middle of town, near the train station. When someone calls 911, the call is routed to the Dutchess 911 center in Poughkeepsie, New York and then police are polled for, and the closest unit responds. The MTA Police also cover the center of town as the Metro-North RailroadHarlem Line passes through town and with a train station.

There were 919 households out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.0% were non-families. 37.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the village the population was spread out with 21.6% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 22.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 89.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.9 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $46,484, and the median income for a family was $59,896. Males had a median income of $43,266 versus $31,466 for females. The per capita income for the village was $23,512. About 5.2% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.5% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Two main thoroughfares run through Pawling, State Route 22 & State Route 55. State Route 22 runs through every town on the East side of Dutchess County, and runs parallel the Business District of Pawling. Metro-North Railroad has two rail commuter rail stations in Pawling, with service to New York City via the Harlem Line, with the Pawling in the town center, and the Appalachian Trail 2 miles north of the village of Pawling.